


Fairies in Greendale

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 10:24:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13949598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Daphne finds some fairies. Daphne belongs to bloomfireprincess on tumblr.





	Fairies in Greendale

Daphne Bluedawn smiled as she rode through Greendale. Of all the places in Jorvik, even Mistfall, Greendale seemed the most magical. The most likely to find fairies in. And today, on her birthday, she was hoping to find some. Diamondwarrior, her Jorvik Warmblood, was, as ever, her faithful companion, stepping over the logs and carefully stepping around fairy circles with ease. Daphne was very careful not to step inside the fairy circles or break them, though, of course, she was here to befriend the fairies, not make some enemies that could potentially make her life very hard.

“I think we’re getting close now,” Daphne murmured to her horse, rubbing his neck. Dia flicked his ears, directing them towards a promising-looking patch of greenery.

From the trees, Daphne seemed to be able to detect the faintest music. Like a never-ending party, the kind that they had all the time in fairyland. Daphne grinned as Dia began to trot towards the source of the music, his white tail swishing behind him.

In the grove of trees, the hairs on Daphne’s arms rose, and she grinned as her blue eyes widened in surprise. This was it. If she was going to find fairies anywhere, it would be in this particular patch of trees, where the sound of music drifted on the breeze from seemingly nowhere.

It was beautiful. But, after sitting on Dia in the grove for several minutes and seeing no change, Daphne began to get a little impatient. What was she supposed to do now?

“Hello?” Daphne called, feeling a little foolish. “Are there any fairies around here, please? I’d love to meet one.” She’d heard some scary stories about fairies, but surely, the ones in Greendale could only be good. And her being the reincarnation of Aideen would surely be helping to keep any evil away.

An odd rustling in the treetops caused Daphne and Dia to look up. And, when they did, Daphne’s breath caught in her throat. For there, nestled in the branches above her, were fairies. A dryad peered down through the long green leaves of her hair, while another tree nymph peered around her fellow fairy’s shoulder. Her eyes were the colour of the leaves.

“Who are you?” a voice whispered near her, and Daphne almost jumped out of her skin. She looked down to see a tiny fairy with gossamer wings sitting on Dia’s head, between his ears. To his credit, Dia didn’t spook, but his ears did swivel around madly, searching for the source of the voice.

“Soul Rider,” another voice whispered, and Daphne quickly found another dryad directly above her head.

“Y-yes, I am,” said Daphne, nodding. “I am a Soul Rider. And this is my Soul Steed, Diamondwarrior. My name is Daphne.” The fairies repeated her name, making it sound like the whisper of wind through leaves.

“Our queen would meet you,” said the fairy between Dia’s ears. “If you would but go through the portal to our realm.”

“Where…?” Daphne’s question trailed off as, before her eyes, the trunk of the tree in front of her suddenly glowed a vibrant purple and moved, the very wood itself appearing to wriggle around until a large hole, glowing faintly green and smelling of flowers, was revealed. Daphne closed her eyes and inhaled the sweet scent of daisies and dandelions, and baby’s breath. The sound of the music was louder now, calling her.

“Come, Soul Rider,” the music seemed to call, tugging at her heart. “Come, join us, dance with us.” Remembering the rules of fairy, to not eat or drink anything that she found there, Daphne clicked her tongue and Dia walked forwards.

As they passed through the portal, the sounds of Greendale and of Jorvik faded away, replaced by the new sounds of music and chatter and revelry. She could hear flutes playing, and string instruments, and even some tambourines.

The smells hit Daphne next, the flowers and delicious, sweet food, honey cakes and sweet fruit wine and mouthwatering delicacies that could only be found in fairyland.

“Leave your horse with us, Soul Rider,” said a new voice, and Daphne gasped to see a centaur approaching, one with the horse body of a chestnut mare and the human body of a dark-skinned girl with brown hair. She looked rather like Linda, one of the other Soul Riders of Jorvik.

“Oh, I can’t,” said Daphne, her rational mind overruling the urges of her heart to eat the food and drink the wine and lose herself to fairyland. But, if she found herself caught by the spell of fairyland, she knew that Dia would be the voice of reason. That was his job as Soul Steed, after all. And it was oh so tempting to do just that, especially with the music making her want to dance and the food and wine looking and smelling so delicious. Daphne’s mouth watered just at the sight of it, laid out on tables.

“Very well, then,” said the Linda centaur with a gentle smile. “Fairyland is home to many centaurs, so things are built to accommodate for them. Even the royal palace.”

“Royal palace?” Daphne repeated, feeling a thrill of excitement at the idea. “Am I going to meet the queen?”

“But of course,” said another centaur, this one with a white horse body and a human body resembling that of the Soul Rider Lisa. Daphne began to wonder if perhaps fairyland was a mirror universe of Jorvik, and if there was a fairy version of herself here. She imagined that she would be a centaur, or perhaps a wood nymph. But then, she began to wonder if meeting herself would cause problems. It usually did in all of the books and movies, when someone met themselves in another universe. But maybe that wouldn’t even happen today.

But then, the centaur’s words finally sunk in, and Daphne gasped, her eyes widening in surprise as her heart fluttered.

“Really?” asked Daphne, grinning as the centaur nodded.

“But of course,” said another centaur, this one an unfamiliar blonde woman with a grey horse’s body. “Our queen has heard so much about the Soul Rider that has recently arrived on Jorvik. She is very much looking forward to meeting you.”

“Oh, okay,” said Daphne, trying not to feel intimidated. Maybe the fairy queen was a believer in Aideen. But she wasn’t sure what to say as the centaurs guided her down a dirt path lined with glowing flowers and littered with flower petals and leaves that smelled divine as their hooves trod upon them.

“So, Soul Rider, how are you liking fairyland?” asked the fourth centaur, this one with hair the same colour as her horse body. Like the other centuars, she had a bow slung across her back, but her quiver of arrows crackled with electricity. Clearly, this centaur was Alex Cloudmill’s fairyland twin.

“It’s beautiful,” said Daphne, grinning. “The sights, the sounds, the smells, the very fact that it exists… it’s more than I could ever have dreamed of.”

“Oh, we are so glad,” said the grey centaur. “Though, I must admit that today, everything is heightened because we are celebrating our queen’s birthday.”

“Oh, really?” said Daphne, feeling her heart leap in her chest. Maybe… but no, her fairyland twin couldn’t be the fairy queen, surely. That would just be too much of a coincidence. “We share a birthday, then.”

“Oh! Well, happy birthday,” said the Lisa centaur, bowing. The other three also stopped and bowed at her, to which Daphne blushed, unused to such attention. Clearly, she meant a great deal to the fairy queen. She must be a follower of the Keepers, then.

“Thank you,” said Daphne, grinning. “Honestly, just being here in fairyland is the best birthday present I could’ve ever hoped for.”

“Well then, it must be your lucky day,” said the grey centaur with a smile, and led the way into the palace. It was a huge structure, made out of multiple trees all grown together, with the roof a canopy of branches and leaves. Leaves and flower petals rained down on Daphne, landing in her hair and in Dia’s mane. 

And there, sitting on a throne woven of branches, wearing the most elaborate flower crown that Daphne had ever seen, sat the fairy queen. She looked rather different to what Daphne had expected, and yet, there was something familiar about her long red hair that was currently partly up in an elaborate hairdo with flowers woven through it, green eyes that seemed to be as vibrant as the leaves overhead, and pale skin that still seemed to glow with warmth.

“My queen,” said the Alex centaur, dipping into a bow with her horse half as well as her human half. “It is our great pleasure to introduce to you Daphne, the Soul Rider. Daphne, this is Aideen, the queen of our realm.” The queen’s smile was brilliant, but Daphne was almost shocked into laughter. Could this really be fairyland’s twin to the original Aideen? Or maybe her mother was a fanatic, too.

“Ah, so the Soul Rider has a name,” said Aideen, her green eyes glimmering with excitement as she rose to her feet and bowed. Daphne blushed, feeling slightly uncomfortable. She should be the one bowing, not the fairy queen. “It is so wonderful to finally meet you, Soul Rider Daphne. My fairies have told me so much about you.”

“Fairies?” Daphne repeated. “I had no idea that I had fairies following me around.”

“Oh, they are quite good at remaining hidden,” said Aideen with a laugh. “They only reveal themselves when they want to. That is why you only heard the music today, because I had the fairies open the portal just enough to allow music through. I’d hoped that you would attend my birthday party, and it brings me much joy to have you here.” She smiled warmly, and Daphne felt as though the whole room brightened with Aideen’s smile.

“It means a lot to me to be here too on my birthday,” said Daphne. Aideen gasped.

“Happy birthday, Daphne,” said Aideen, still smiling. “You are welcome to enjoy your time here as long as you desire. Forever, if you wish. Though, I do know that Jorvik needs you, so I will not keep you here.”

“Thank you, Aideen,” said Daphne, dipping her head in a bow as she grinned. “Even if I cannot enjoy the tastes of this place safely, I can at least enjoy the sights and smells and sounds and just the very knowledge that I am here, in fairyland.”

“Ah, you are clever, then,” said Aideen, smiling. “It is good to know that Jorvik is in safe hands, with you as its saviour.”

“Thank you,” said Daphne, feeling herself buzzing with excitement. “it is so wonderful to meet you, and to be here. Thank you so much for bringing me here.”

“It is good to know that my selfishness did not backfire,” said Aideen, her eyes alive with good humour. Daphne gave her another smile before she bid her farewell and left, following the wonderful scents and sounds back towards the party. 

There, Daphne danced, feeling the fairy music flow through her body. She felt more alive than ever before, and happier than ever. Not that she’d been sad, but this happiness felt like it would bring her joy for weeks to come, even if just in memories. She almost didn’t want to return to Jorvik, but she knew that she had to. And yet, she had the feeling that she had Aideen’s permission to return to fairyland whenever she wished. All she had to do was find some fairies.


End file.
